







£\ ^ <? 



cAt Work with 
the Italians 




WILLIAM P. SHRIVER 
Director of City and Immigrant Work 
Board of Home Missions of the 
Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. 



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MISSIONARY EDUCATION MOVEMENT 
OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA 
156 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK 



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"3V2788 

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COPYRIGHT, 191 7, BY 
MISSIONARY EDUCATION MOVEMENT 
OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA 



©CU479099 

NOV 17 1317 
I 



At Work with the Italians 

THE various denominational home 
mission societies are conducting a 
propaganda throughout the church- 
es of America in behalf of a friendly and 
neighborly interest in the three million 
Italians who are so important a factor 
in our new community life. The wide 
circulation of Prof. Mangano's book, Sons 
of Italy, and other literature which has 
been specially prepared for this Italian 
year, will in many quarters provoke the 
question, "What can we do for the Ital- 
ians in our community?" This manual is 
designed to help answer that question. 
It gathers together much fruitful sugges- 
tion embodied in Mr. Mangano's book 
along with experience gained by many 
others. It is needless to point out that 
unless this widespread propaganda does 
lead to this practical expression of our in- 
terest in the Italians, it will have shot far 
of the mark. 

LITERATURE 

The approach to any immigrant group 
ought to be preceded by a careful study 
of their social and religious background 



and of their racial heritage. We Ameri- 
cans know too little of the countries from 
which our recent immigrants are coming, 
and this lack of knowledge is the occasion 
of a good deal of blundering in our effort 
to serve the immigrant. A thoughtful 
study of Sons of Italy, by Antonio Man- 
gano, should be made. Where a group is 
brought together for the study of this 
book, "Suggestions for Leaders" will be 
found helpful. 

"Religious Work among Italians in 
America," by Antonio Mangano, is a 
pamphlet which enters with more detail 
into religious conditions among Italians 
than was possible in Sons of Italy. It also 
has statements from the various denomi- 
nations concerning their policy and work 
among Italians, and a complete list of all 
Protestant Italian churches and missions 
in this country. This pamphlet will be 
of the greatest aid to any church contem- 
plating work with Italians. 

A recent book throwing much light on 
the problems of the immigrant is The Im- 
migrant and the Community, by Grace 
Abbott. The author, a former resident of 
Hull House, served as director of the 
Immigrants' Protective League of Chica- 
go, and from such first-hand experience 
writes suggestively concerning the jour- 
ney of the immigrant, the immigrant in 
the courts, the immigrant and the public 



health, and the education of the immi- 
grant. Immigrant Forces, by William P. 
Shriver, may also be consulted. Leader- 
ship of the New America, by Archibald 
McClure, is an excellent brief introduc- 
tion to the immigrant groups, presenting 
particularly the immigrant's point of 
view. Withal, nothing will be so fruitful 
as first-hand contact with the Italians 
themselves. 



A POINT OF VIEW 

At the outset, it is essential that we get 
a wholesome and sympathetic point of 
view. While many of the Italians who 
have come to this country have suffered 
many handicaps because of conditions be- 
yond their control, they are a self- 
respecting people. They do not want to 
be patronized. In the last fifteen years, 
furthermore, the Italians have made rapid 
progress in this country. In every com- 
munity there are Italians of ability in 
business and the professions. They 
should be our allies for community bet- 
terment. What the Italians ask is not 
our charity nor commiseration, but a fair 
chance to share with us in rearing that 
community life in which every individual 
may come into his own best heritage. 
Our aim should be not to do something 
for the Italian, but to work with him. 



Sympathy, comradeship, cooperation, are 
the keywords of Christian democracy. 

GETTING TOGETHER 

As we aim to line up Americans and 
Italians in this cooperative spirit we may 
consider 

1. The Italian colony or community 

2. The Italian household or family 

3. The Italian as an individual 

4. The Italian in his religious need 
and aspiration 

On the other side, we have to reckon 
with 

1. The American community, organ- 
ized for community service through the 
local government, or in unofficial and vol- 
untary groups 

2. The American family, as a friendly 
neighbor to the Italian 

3. The American as an individual, a 
new comrade to the Italian 

4. The American evangelical church, 
with its discovery of a "mission field" in 
its own city, town, or community 

The crossing of these interests, Ital- 
ian and American, marks out a number 
of fields for cooperative service. A dia- 
gram may make this clearer. 



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Here are at least thirteen opportuni- 
ties for getting together in mutually help- 
ful cooperation. 

The American community has a very 
definite responsibility for conditions in 
the Italian colony and in assuring equal 
opportunity for the local Italian popula- 
tion. Its concern may also sympathet- 
ically reach into the Italian household. 
It may have frequent occasion to protect 
and aid the individual Italian. By the 
community is meant the city or town or- 
ganized in the local government with its 
various departments of health, education, 
public safety, etc. ; or, the people of 
the community organized in voluntary 
groups, such as the Town Improvement 
Club, the Woman's Club, or the Parent- 
Teacher Association. Where any church 
establishes a parochial school, the com- 
munity should see to it and insist that 
the same standards are maintained as in 
the public schools. Beyond this the or- 
ganized community will not, under exist- 
ing conditions, concern itself with the 
religious situation other than to see that 
fullest protection is given any group of 
Italians to worship according to the 
mode of their own choice without being 
molested. 

While the American family may feel 
impotent to move in the larger matters 
of community betterment, alone and of 
itself, in the Italian family it may find a 
field for friendly cooperation. The Amer- 

6 



ican home in its warmth and welcome 
may be tellingly effective for the young 
Italian. 

The individual American who wants to 
extend a friendly hand to the Italian will 
not have to wait for a community-wide 
movement. He may get acquainted with 
an Italian family. There are opportuni- 
ties on every hand to cultivate some 
young Italian as a friend. 

To the American evangelical church 
the whole field is open. It may set up 
a program of community betterment 
which may at length gain the adherence 
of all elements in the community ; it may 
relate itself to the Italian home ; it will 
find many opportunities to cooperate with 
the individual Italian ; and the religious 
life of the Italian will be its normal con- 
cern. 

From these standpoints, then, the fol- 
lowing pages will consider with greater 
detail the opportunities of working with 
the Italian. 

MAKING A SURVEY 

Preparatory to a program of service, 
either on the part of the American com- 
munity or the church, it is desirable to 
make a survey, which is nothing more 
nor less than a careful and orderly study 
of existing conditions. Where possible, 
it would be better to make a survey of 
the entire town or community, up-town 



and down-town, or at least of a certain 
area or ward, rather than a survey of the 
Italians. No group of people particular- 
ly relishes being "studied," and often the 
process serves to emphasize divisions 
rather than to obliterate them. It would 
be helpful to enlist the cooperation of 
some of the representative Italians. This 
may save misunderstanding, facilitate 
the work, and lay the basis for coopera- 
tion. In a New Jersey town a communi- 
ty survey was made. When completed 
an exhibit was displayed in a vacant 
store on a main street down-town. A 
group of Italians visited this exhibit. 
One of the men was outraged to find on 
a screen designed to illustrate home con- 
ditions in the Italian colony a photo- 
graph of his wife. The Italians tore 
down the picture and a small tempest 
was stirred in the Italian colony. 

Where a comprehensive survey of a 
city or town is contemplated from a mu- 
nicipal or community standpoint, the ef- 
fort should be made to enlist in prelimi- 
nary conference, and thereafter in the 
committee to carry forward the survey, 
a wide and representative group of men 
and women, not overlooking the indus- 
trial workers and the immigrant popula- 
tion. The ground is thus prepared for 
cooperative action in carrying out the 
recommendations of the survey. A com : 
munity engaging in such a thorough- 
going survey should correspond with the 



Department of Surveys and Exhibits, 
Russell Sage Foundation, New York. 

Where the churches undertake such a 
community survey, assistance may be 
had from denominational home mission 
headquarters. The Board of Home Mis- 
sions of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
(Philadelphia) maintains a Bureau of 
Social Service and Surveys; the Immi- 
grant and City Work Office of the Pres- 
byterian Board of Home Missions (U. S. 
A.), and the Department of City and 
Foreign Speaking Work of the American 
Baptist Home Mission Society, New 
York, will cooperate in planning commu- 
nity surveys. 

Where volunteer service must be used, 
a pamphlet, "What Social Workers 
Should Know about Their Own Commu- 
nities," by Margaret F. Byington (Char- 
ity Organization Department, Russell 
Sag:e Foundation, New York, 15 cents), 
will be most helpful. It outlines ques- 
tions bearing on community problems 
under such headings as Housing, Health, 
Recreation, Industrial Problems, the Im- 
migrant, Children ; and also suggests a 
line of inquiry concerning agencies for 
relief and for the improvement of social 
conditions. 

"A Survey Blank for an Immigrant 
Community," by William P. Shriver (5 
cents), will be suggestive. It outlines a 
brief inquiry under such heads as Housing, 



Industrial Conditions, Home Life and 
Health, Recreation and Amusements, Social 
Agencies and Schools. 

The camera is a valuable ally in bring- 
ing home community conditions to the 
public. From small kodak negatives en- 
largements may be made, about 10 x 13 
inches ; mounted on cards 22 x 28 inches, 
there will be room for two pictures with 
brief inscriptions. Lantern slides may 
be made directly from negatives 3^ x 
434 inches at a cost of about 25 cents 
each. 

Graphs or charts may also be made set- 
ting forth statistical information on cards 
22 x 28 inches. It is desirable to pre- 
sent a single fact in as simple, clear, and 
convincing a way as possible. Line cuts 
for publication may also be made from 
these larger exhibit cards. (See page 39.) 

A survey of conditions having been 
made, the way is opened for a program 
of service. 

I. The American Community and the 
Italian Colony 

1. Housing and Neighborhood Sanita- 
tion. Where a survey reveals, as is so 
often the case, bad conditions in housing 
and neighborhood sanitation, pressure 
should be brought to bear on the local 
government. But mere laws will be in- 
effective unless there are means of regu- 



lar inspection and enforcement. As Miss 
Byington points out, "With our foreign 
colonies, ignorant of American standards 
and legal rights, and not knowing where 
and how to make complaint, it is not 
enough for the Board of Health to act 
on complaint ; it should make regular in- 
spections." This principle of calling 
upon and utilizing the facilities of the 
local government should be stressed. 
But the cooperation of the Italians should 
be enlisted. Because they may not read- 
ily understand English and are not ac- 
quainted with local ordinances bearing on 
health, housing, sanitation, and public 
order, a community that will take the 
pains to print a pamphlet (English and 
Italian in parallel pages) explaining some 
of the more important ordinances, will 
have taken a first step in securing such 
cooperation. The public school may also 
be an agency for instruction and in secur- 
ing the cooperation of parents and pupils. 
2. Protection and Justice for the Ital- 
ian. The Italian suffers from many ex- 
ploiters. His dealings with the unscrup- 
ulous banker, the land shark masquerad- 
ing as a real estate agent, and the unregu- 
lated employment agency are disastrous. 
Many of the offenses of the immigrant 
are, furthermore, due to ignorance. Such 
information as is suggested in the preceding 
paragraph concerning local ordinances 
will lessen the number of arrests. It is 
unfortunately true that in many com- 



munities the immigrant gets scant justice 
at the hand of the courts. There is a con- 
vincing and suggestive discussion of "The 
Immigrant in the Courts" in Miss Ab- 
bott's book, The Immigrant and the Com- 
munity. 

Lack of competent court interpreters 
often prevents the immigrant from secur- 
ing justice. Mr. Mangano writes in Sons 
of Italy, "Before the Italian or any other 
foreigner can have proper regard for our 
political institutions, America must see 
to it that they are free from graft and 
that protection and justice are assured to 
rich and poor alike. This matter of court 
interpreters, for example, is calling for 
instant action. There is no standard of 
qualifications for the position. Many of 
them speak Italian poorly, and as far as 
education goes, are not fit for the place. 
These positions are given to particular 
friends of the politicians. They wield 
great pow T er, the fate of an accused man 
often depending upon a truthful and ex- 
act translation of what is said. Only men 
of high character and unquestioned integ- 
rity should have such a responsibility." 

3. Juvenile Delinquency. "Does a 
city's court still consider the delinquent 
child a criminal to be punished, or is he 
now looked upon as a wayward child who 
must be protected and helped or a de- 
fective child needing special care and 
treatment? In all stages of its proceed- 
ings, one attitude or the other must be 



evident." This field of cooperative service 
is opened up in Miss Byington's "What 
Social Workers Should Know about 
Their Own Communities" (page 28). 
Loss of parental control is one of the 
tragedies of immigrant life in America 
and a source of juvenile delinquency. Mr. 
Mangano finds the solution in the re- 
union of the family life. "We must teach 
the boys and girls to respect and honor 
their parents and to speak their native 
tongue as well as English. Imagine the 
helplessness of a mother who knows no 
English and whose children feel that 
Italian is to be despised and cast aside. 
The children talk English in the home 
and even plan to disobey her before her 
eyes when she has no idea what they are 
saying. (Sons of Italy, page 109 ff.) What 
becomes of Italian boys in your commu- 
nity when arrested? In a New Jersey 
community which prides itself on its 
community spirit, two boys, one colored 
and one Italian, were committed to the 
county jail for trial. It was later dis- 
covered that the county sheriff had 
placed them in a room with adult prison- 
ers. When this undesirable situation 
was discoA^ered, the judge directed that 
they be detained in separate quarters. 
This is the sort of thing worth being in- 
formed about. 

4. Education. The public school is 
first and foremost in its contact with the 
immigrant and in its opportunity for 

13 



helpful and cooperative service. Study 
your local schools in their relation to the 
Italian or other immigrant population. 
Schools of To-morrow, by John Dewey, 
is a prophetic book. It describes schools 
throughout the country that are pioneer- 
ing for the new democracy. But the 
public school is not limiting its facilities 
to the children of the community. It 
is being made a community center. Con- 
sult A Wider Use of the School Plant, 
by Clarence Arthur Perry. It is sugges- 
tive, also, of a wider use of the church 
plant. 

The education of the adult immigrant 
has not begun to receive the considera- 
tion in this country it deserves. Many 
communities feel that they have dis- 
charged their responsibility for the for- 
eigner when they offer in the public 
school a class in English for foreigners, 
four nights a week, often in a school re- 
mote from the immigrant community and 
taught by a day-school teacher already 
tired by the day's work. When in the 
autumn of 1917, roused by the war. the 
Mayor's Committee on National Defense 
set afoot a campaign for the Americani- 
zation of aliens living in New York, it 
was stated : "The brunt, of course, has 
so far fallen on the schools. The new 
campaign will extend far outside the 
schoolroom. The facilities, organization, 
leadership, and resourcefulness of social 
agencies are to be used in every possible 



way." The public schools, libraries, set- 
tlements, clubs, churches, synagogs, em- 
ployers' associations, and city depart- 
ments were enlisted. Some of the most 
successful instruction of adult immigrant 
women — the most difficult group to 
reach we know of — was carried on by a 
highly intelligent young American 
woman who formed her classes in the 
homes, the objects of the home suggesting 
the vocabulary to be used. 

But the older Italian men and women 
who will never learn English should be 
considered. In her practical discussion 
of the education of the immigrant Miss 
Abbott writes, "We should long ago have 
recognized that much of the opportunity 
for education which is offered the adult 
immigrants should be in their native lan- 
guage. Many of the older men and * 
women will never learn English, and 
with others it will be many years before 
they will understand it easily. Most of 
them have lived in the country, and are 
having their first contact with the prob- 
lem of city life in the United States. 
They need at once a knowledge of the 
city's water and milk supply; of its san- 
itary regulations; of the labor laws de- 
signed for their protection; of the natur- 
alization requirements ; something of the 
history of the United States; and more of 
the problems of municipal government 
with whose right solution they, as much 
as any one else, are concerned. The pub- 
is 



lie libraries are beginning to meet the 
cultural needs of the immigrant, but 
books with concrete information along 
these lines are not available for the edu- 
cated and would not be used by those of 
little education or by the illiterate. 
These people must be reached by moving 
pictures explained by lecturers who speak 
their language." 

5. Recreation. "We live in a boarding- 
house, where we have to drink beer. It is 
served at every meal, and they would put 
us out if we didn't drink it. I have no 
place to go in the evening; I can't stay shut 
up in my rooms. So I walk the streets or 
go to moving pictures or the pool-room." 
Here is the problem of recreation from the 
standpoint of a young Italian in Barre, 
Vermont, He voiced the need of thou- 
sands of young Italians throughout this 
country. In this city, reports Mr. Mangano 
in Sens of Italy, "the socialists have built 
a big hall where there are dances and meet- 
ings, but the serious-minded Italians, and 
there are many, would like a place where 
they could go, read the papers, study Eng- 
lish, and indulge in gymnastics for recrea- 
tion. In less than six weeks' time two 
years ago, it was possible to gather a group 
of twenty-two fine young men, all away 
from home ties and influences, into a club 
for the study of English." The dramatic 
instinct is highly latent in the Italian. Get- 
ting up a play, staging, and performing it 
before a group of neighbors has furnished 

16 



interest and expression for many groups of 
young Italians. 

Supervised playgrounds are increasingly 
being featured in programs of community 
welfare. The Playground and Recreation 
Association of America, New York, will 
be glad to correspond with any community 
interested. The Association furnishes 
stereopticon lectures showing the need of 
playgrounds and playground equipment. 

6. Cooperating Agencies. It is impos- 
sible in the brief compass of this manual to 
take up in detail the varied forms of com- 
munity service being successfully carried 
on among Italians. It is hoped that a point 
of view has been gained. A number of 
concrete suggestions have been made. At- 
tention has been directed to books replete 
with further suggestion. As an addendum 
to this manual there is a list of organiza- 
tions which hold themselves in readiness 
to advise communities or groups along the 
line of their specific interest. 

II. The American Community and 
the Italian Family 

The problems of health, of child welfare, 
and of education are frequently best met 
through a sympathetic relation with the 
family. The visiting or school nurse is a 
connecting link between the Italian house- 
hold and the community. In California, 
state legislation has been enacted providing 
for "home teachers." The duty of the 

17 



home teacher is to visit her entire district 
in order to discover the homes that need 
care, and then to teach English to the for- 
eign mother in her home, as well as sani- 
tation, household tasks, purchase of sup- 
plies, clothing, and concerning our Amer- 
ican system of government. 

The Italian should be protected from 
medical quacks and nostrums. Mr. Man- 
gano states, "The Italian quacks to whom 
many Italians go because of language are 
unscrupulous, and the quacks of all races 
who advertise in Italian free advice and 
sure cures for all manner of trouble, take 
thousands of hard-earned dollars. Realiz- 
ing the injury to the Italian people and the 
disgrace upon the profession, some of the 
finest Italian physicians in New York re- 
cently banded together and are publishing 
a health culture journal in Italian, called 
La Parola del Medico, 'The Word of the 
Doctor.' The aim is to teach personal 
hygiene to the Italians and expose fraud- 
ulent quacks. The constructive articles 
deal with such subjects as 'Fruit Diet,' 
'Examples of Good Living,' 'Wheat, Cer- 
eals, and Legumes,' 'The Work of the 
Italian Hospital.' The recent epidemic of 
infantile paralysis was discussed, and part 
of the blame for its spread laid squarely 
upon the bad housing conditions among 
Italians." 

The fight against tuberculosis and the 
saving of the lives of babies are causes in 
which the community should seek the co- 

18 



operation of the Italian home. In order 
to meet the constantly increasing demand 
for a simple educational card or pamphlet 
on tuberculosis, which can be supplied in 
quantity at a reasonable price and in sev- 
eral different languages, the National As- 
sociation for the Study and Prevention of 
Tuberculosis (New York) has arranged 
that a simple card or folder be printed in 
large quantities, thus giving local bodies 
the advantage of the reduced cost. Ar- 
rangements have been made whereby this 
card may be secured in Italian and eight- 
een other languages for $2.50 per thousand, 
and $2.20 per thousand in English. 

The "Save the Seventh Baby'' campaign 
carried on by The Delineator and similar 
movements will furnish concrete sugges- 
tion for helpfulness in the Italian family. 
The Italian mothers and their new-born 
babies often suffer irreparable injury at 
the hands of unskilled midwives. The 
Italians should be made acquainted with 
physicians of competence and character. 

Those interested in a thoroughgoing 
study of family rehabilitation should con- 
sult Social Diagnosis, by Mary E. Rich- 
mond, especially Chapter XXI on "The 
Immigrant Family." There is an extended 
questionnaire bearing on the family. 

III. The American Family and the 
Italian Home 

"What can any Christian American do 

19 



to reach the foreigner?"' asks Mr. Man- 
gano. "Let him play the host to the 
stranger. We too often blame the stranger 
within our gates for his un-American 
standards of living. How is he ever to at- 
tain the true American standard if he never 
crosses the threshold of an American 
home? Not long ago a well-educated for- 
eign worker startled his audience by tell- 
ing them that he had been laboring in their 
city for over six years and had never been 
invited to an American home. People are 
honestly seeking how to reach Italians, but 
they do not use the most potent means at 
their disposal to establish a point of con- 
tact — their homes." 

Much that has been written in the pre- 
ceding paragraphs will be suggestive in 
this connection. The National American- 
ization Committee has prepared a fine pro- 
gram of 'activities for mothers' organiza- 
tions, which includes this standard for 
individual women: 

i. Americanize one immigrant woman 

2. Teach English to one foreign-born 
mother 

3. Put one immigrant family on your 
calling list 

It would be impossible to estimate the 
enormous transformation that could be 
wrought if every Christian woman would 
earnestly set herself to the task, taking the 
foreign-born woman who lives nearest her 
as her particular work and care. The re- 
lation of an American family or visitor to 



the Italian home, while friendly and sym- 
pathetic, should be guarded against an ill- 
considered charity or patronage. 

IV. The American Individual and 
the Italian 

To know one Italian or a single Italian 
family intimately; to have entered with 
sympathy into his or her life story, ambi- 
tions, and progress ; in the real spirit of 
comradeship to give oneself heartily as to 
a new friend — here is an opportunity for 
every American. Multiply these comrade- 
ships a hundred thousand times and forces 
will be set at work that will mean more 
to the Italians of this country than scores 
of settlements or social agencies. 

V. The American Evangelical 
Church 

i. Community Work. With the sym- 
pathy and service of Jesus as its burning 
passion and inspiration, it would be ex- 
pected that the Christian church will be 
first and foremost in its solicitude and care 
for the immigrant, as he makes his ad- 
venture in the new world so full of vexing 
problems. As a local church presses its 
program of missionary education, it should 
include a first-hand study of the conditions 
of life in the Italian or other immigrant 
community nearest at hand. This near-by 
need should be kept before the congrega- 



tion and the church school in some graphic 
and appealing way. It should be accom- 
panied by some definite program of ser- 
vice. 

The local church should put its forces 
back of all well-accredited communitv. 
movements making for the common wel- 
fare. The church furnishes a large share 
of workers actively engaged in social bet- 
terment. Their outlook and experience 
should be capitalized in the church's mis- 
sionary or social service committee. When 
in anv citv or town there is outstanding 
need in the Italian or other immigrant 
colonv, and efforts to arouse the American 
constituency have failed, a church or group 
of churches may well take the matter in 
hand and work confidently in the faith that 
the enterprise, when demonstrated, will be 
taken over by the city or community. A 
kindergarten in the immigrant section of 
Gary conducted bv the Women's Mission- 
ary Societies of Indiana was the pioneer 
kindergarten in that great industrial center 
now noted throughout the country for its 
progressive public schools. Where such a 
community service is undertaken by a local 
church, it must not expect immediate re- 
turns in the terms common to its evan- 
gelistic propaganda. The service rendered 
must be reckoned worth while in itself. All 
the preceding sections bearing on com- 
munity and welfare work will be sugges- 
tive to churches. 



2. The Evangelical Church and the Re- 
ligious Needs of the Italians. 

(a) Why Carry on Religious Work for 
Italians? Any specific religious work un- 
dertaken by a church or group of churches 
must be based on a clear and unmistakable 
conviction that the Italians of the com- 
munity have social and religious needs 
which are not being met by the Roman or 
any other church. In a statement concern- 
ing the work of the Congregational 
Church, Philip M. Rose, supervisor of 
Italian Congregational churches in Con- 
necticut, writes : "While showing all toler- 
ance for and willingness to cooperate with 
the Italian Roman Catholic Church, we 
must recognize that the majority of our 
Italian-Americans are, spiritually, un- 
churched, and hence are our legitimate 
field." In the pamphlet, "Religious Work 
among Italians," Mr. Mangano frankly es- 
timates the loyalty of the Italian to his 
traditional faith : "It is a common belief 
among Americans that all Italians are 
Roman Catholics, and there seems to be 
good reason for this impression. Out of 
Italy's population of 36,000,000 there are 
not more than 60,000 Protestants, but there 
are unnumbered thousands, yes, tens of 
thousands of anticlerics and even atheists. 
Ninety-nine per cent, of the Italians land- 
ing on our shores would give the Roman 
Catholic as their religious belief, but if 
questioned a large number would add that 
they were not faithful to its celebrations 

23 



nor its services, except perhaps at times of 
births, deaths, and marriages. A question- 
naire sent to all Baptist, Presbyterian, 
Methodist, and Congregational Italian pas- 
tors on the question, 'What per cent, of 
Italians in your colony are loyal to the 
Roman Church?' evoked an amazingly 
unanimous reply, 'About one third.' One 
or two reported, one fourth; and one re- 
ported, one half. 

"In one city of Massachusetts, out of a 
population of 1,700 Italians, only sixty at- 
tend the Roman Church; and in another 
city there is a colony of 6,000 Italians, of 
whom only 300 attend that church. There 
is a colony of 35,000 Italians in Brooklyn 
which has only one Italian church, seating 
at the utmost 400 persons. It conducts 
three masses on Sunday, and granting it 
were filled to its capacity each time, it 
could only minister to 1,200 persons, less 
than four per cent, of the population. Out 
of the 600,000 Italian population of Great- 
er New York, the Roman Church, by its 
own figures, so far as I could obtain them, 
lays claim to only 180,000, including chil- 
dren, as members of the Roman Catholic 
Italian churches — less than one third of the 
total Italian population. 

"There is need for the widest publicity 
of these facts in order to refute the com- 
mon charge of proselyting, which all evan- 
gelical mission work among the Italians 
meets, and also because officials of city de- 
partments, health, probation, juvenile court, 

24 



and charity organizations, and even school- 
teachers commonly assume that all Italians, 
adults or children, are Catholics, and insist 
on treating them as such. 

"Religiously then, Italians both in Italy 
and America may be divided into four gen- 
eral groups : ( i ) All who are loyal to the 
Roman Church ; (2) a larger group who are 
indifferent to religion; (3) the atheistic, 
anarchistic group, which is actively hos- 
tile to religion of whatever name. To 
this latter class belong the great throng 
of younger men who have lost faith in 
Roman Catholicism and who firmly be- 
lieve that all religions are only worn-out 
superstitions, imposed upon ignorant people 
to keep them in subjection. (4) The mem- 
bership of the evangelical churches." 

(b) An Objective. Religious work among 
Italians is no longer an experiment. The 
statistical table in the Appendix of "Re- 
ligious Work among Italians" indicates over 
325 Protestant churches and missions em- 
ploying the Italian language, with 14,000 
members and over 15,000 in church or Sun- 
day-schools. The figures, moreover, do not 
in any adequate degree convey the influence 
which these 325 churches and missions are 
exerting in Italian communities. In the be- 
ginning of Italian work in this country 
many missions were started under serious 
limitations. Stores were rented and meager- 
ly equipped ; budgets were small and not al- 
ways assured; leadership available was fre- 
quently poorly trained and as poorly paid. 

25 



While many such enterprises have since 
developed into strong churches, it is the con- 
viction of a number of leading denomina- 
tional agencies that a bolder faith and larg- 
er enterprise ought now to characterize our 
work with Italians. When a new work is 
contemplated, the church or committee con- 
cerned ought to "count the cost." When 
the field has been carefully surveyed and 
the need demonstrated, a program should 
be drawn up forecasting the equipment re- 
quired ; provision should be made for a staff 
of thoroughly trained and competent work- 
ers; an ample budget should be assured. 
Unless it is the purpose of those concerned 
to carry the work through to some worthy 
conclusion, it were better and fairer to the 
Italians not to begin. The initial years of 
pioneering in this new home mission field 
have established a more or less definite 
norm for an organized religious work 
among Italians. The Bureau of Foreign 
Work of the Board of Home Missions and 
Church Extension of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church has set up the following pro- 
gram of work for the local Italian church. 
i. Approach to the family as a whole 

(a) Home visitor, a woman speaking 
Italian, with the American training and 
American spirit. Such a one, bilingual, 
could work with little children in English, 
and conduct older classes possibly in Italian. 
The problem is one of young women as well 
as mothers. The future objective is to be 
young Italian women thoroughly trained. 

(b) Family gathering for everybody in 
the church parlors or church house. Music, 

26 



games, pictures, etc. Recognize the family 
unit. 

(c) Meetings in the home. The coming 
of the stranger draws all the neighbors in 
so that a program may be used. Special 
attention to home meetings for girls. 

2. Approach in Italian for adult Italian groups. 

(a) Religious services of worship in 
Italian. (Members of the staff should speak 
both English and Italian.) 

(b) Volunteer workers: A lawyer, a 
physician, an employment agent, and a 
printer, whose services may be used for 
help among the Italians in the community. 

(c) Mothers' clubs in Italian 

(d) Men's clubs for learning English and 
citizenship (civic questions, citizenship 
papers, etc.) 

(e) Use of Italian literature 

(f) Religious instruction in Italian 

(g) Illustrated lectures 

(h) Italian patriotism as point of contact 
(Italian days, the 20th of September, 
Columbus Day, etc.) 

(i) Make use of musical interest 

3. Approach in English to children and young 
people. 

(a) Attendance at English church services 

(b) Religious instruction (Sunday-school) 

(c) Related week-day club activities, 
emphasis on expressional work, such as rec- 
reational clubs, gymnasium clubs, choral so- 
cieties, dramatic clubs, Boy Scouts, Knight? 
of King Arthur, Camp Fire Girls, Girl 
Scouts, sewing, painting, drawing, and 
sculpture. 

(d) Illustrated lectures and moving pic- 
tures 

(e) Daily Vacation Bible School 

(f) Flower mission 

(g) Fresh air work 
(h) Camps 

2.7 



The conduct of religious work with 
Italians is discussed in a practical way by 
Mr. Mangano in Sons of Italy, Chapter VI. 
Out of a wide range of experience and ob- 
servation, recommendations are also made 
in "Religious Work among Italians" con- 
cerning a more comprehensive attack, a 
plea for a better considered, adequately 
equipped, and worthily supported work 
for Italian communities. The question 
of workers, the message, literature, and 
publications are also discussed. 

(c) Leadership. The family should be 
the unit of our interest. The adult mem- 
bers are seldom accessible except through 
the ministration of an Italian-speaking pas- 
tor or missionary. The trained and diligent 
Italian pastor knows his people and can 
best interpret the Christian message to 
them. Language is a strong bond. Where 
a new work may not warrant nor afford 
the undivided time of a pastor, occasional 
addresses or services, with home visitation 
by the nearest neighboring Italian-speaking 
pastor will help make the unselfish purpose 
of the work understood. 

When an Italian pastor is to be engaged, 
a man of thorough training should be 
sought. He should speak both Italian and 
English and be resourceful in modes of 
educational and community work. In the 
beginning of the church's work with Italians 
in this country and when missionaries were 
difficult to obtain, many young Italians with 
a sincere Christian experience, but with 

28 



limited training, were enlisted. Their work 
in many instances has been signally blessed. 
But with the steady growth of Italian evan- 
gelization and with opportunities now of- 
fered for training, the Italian ministry itself 
is urging that young men enlisting for this 
service should submit themselves to the 
most thorough preparation and that there 
should not be two standards of ministerial 
education, one for Americans and a lower 
standard for Italians. 

On the part of the American church, it 
should sustain the Italian-speaking minister 
and his family with an adequate salary. 

(d) Equipment. Where a church has 
become surrounded or is near an Italian 
community, it will cheerfully extend its 
facilities for Italian meetings and group 
activities. Its hospitality should be unmis- 
takable and unstinted. A church that offers 
its basement or lecture room for Italian 
work, but is hesitant about the church audi- 
torium, had better reconsider its motive. If 
it is necessary at the outset to begin work in 
a rented building or hall, see that the equip- 
ment is fresh and new. Do not send the 
old and tuneless piano or organ, or the dis- 
carded hymn books. If possible, let the 
room devoted to worship be maintained ex- 
clusively for such purposes. The Italian 
sense of reverence cannot associate the 
place of worship with an ice cream party. 

Where a new building is to be erected, 
however small, the best architectural con- 
sideration should be given to its design. A 

29 



building in the simple yet pleasing style of 
the early Tuscan architecture carried out 
in brick will be thoroughly acceptable. Great 
interest should be given to the place of wor- 
ship. It should be set apart from the rooms 
designed for educational and social purposes. 
(e) Departmental Work. Where a church 
is near an Italian community it may find a 
number of opportunities for distinctive 
work with Italians. The following are 
among methods which have been successful- 
ly employed: 

Home visitation 

English classes 

Civic clubs 

Week-day craft school 

Visiting nurse 

Mothers' clubs 

Daily Vacation Bible School 

Boys' clubs or Boy Scouts 

Stereopticon lectures 
If the occasional services of an Italian- 
speaking minister may be secured, 
through visitation and a series of lectures 
or evangelistic meetings, the purpose of 
the work may be made clearer to the Ital- 
ian community. 

Work thus begun may lead to the em- 
ployment of an Italian-speaking visitor 
or minister. Such a worker should be 
recognized as a member of the church 
staff. While a church wholly given over 
to an Italian congregation, with its own 
pastor and official boards may be an ideal 
arrangement, there are a number of illus- 

30 



trations of English-speaking churches 
which are maintaining with great encour- 
agement a departmental work in Italian. 
In most cases services of worship are 
maintained in Italian, while all children 
attend the same Sunday-school. A work 
of this sort calls for a generous spirit of 
accommodation. 

(f ) Literature and Bibles. Four weekly 
papers are published by denominational so- 
cieties in the Italian language. The tendency 
is to print the Sunday-school lesson and 
other articles of interest to the young people 
in English. These papers will be pleased 
to furnish terms concerning club rates or 
sample packages for distribution. 

77 Cristiano. American Baptist Publication So- 
ciety ; 18 Jackson Street Brooklyn, N. Y. ; C. 
Buffa, Editor. Subscription price, $1.00 a year. 
La Fiaccola. (The Italian Christian Advocate). 
Methodist Book Concern, 150 Fifth Avenue, 
New York City; Piero M. Petacci, Editor. Sub- 
scription price, $1.00 a year. 

L'Era Nuova. Presbyterian Board of Publica- 
tion and Sabbath School Work, 114 East 116th 
Street^ New York City; F. J. Panetta, Editor. 
Subscription price, $1.00 a year. 

77 Vessillo. Board of Home Missions, United 
Presbyterian Church, 7716 Tioga Street, Pitts- 
burgh, Pa. ; Michael Renzetti, Editor. Subscrip- 
tion price, $1.00 a year. 

The distribution of tract literature 
should be carried on with discrimination. 
The following, published by the Ameri- 
can Tract Society, 101 Park Avenue, New 
York, have be.en recommended ; 

3 1 



Envelope Series (in Italian) 

(Price, 1,000 pages for $1.00 and postage 12 

cents extra). 

No. Pages 

I. Good News for You 4 

6. How a Garibaldian Soldier Became a 

Soldier of Christ 8 

9. Turn the Key. (Temperance) 12 

10. Jesus Christ for Everybody 8 

13. Why Should I Read the Bible ? 8 

14. You, Me, or Anybody Else 8 

15. The Dying Drummer Boy 12 

16. Looking Unto Jesus 4 

Hymn Books 
II Nuovo Innario Evangelico. Rev. Stefano L. 
Testa and Rev. Agide Pirazzini, Editors. With 
tunes, cloth 8vo., 50 cents. Words only, 25 cents. 
(Half price for mission purposes). 

The Bibliography of Sons of Italy, and 
the list of leaflets, pamphlets, periodicals, 
lectures, etc., given in the "Suggestions to 
Leaders" on Sons of Italy give very com- 
plete and valuable information on literature. 

The American Bible Society, Bible 
House, New York (or nearest depository: 
Atlanta, Chicago, Richmond, Denver, 
San Francisco, Dallas, Brooklyn, Cincin- 
nati, Philadelphia), publishes Bibles, New- 
Testaments, and single Gospels in the 
Italian language. The following num- 
bers will prove acceptable : 

Italian No. 4. Italian Bible ' (Diodati). Roan, 
burnished red edge. With refer- 
ences, family record, and maps. 
Small pica type. Size, Quarto. 
8x10 inches. (Family Bible). 
Price, $2.25 each. 

32 



Italian No. 8. Italian Bible (Diodati). Cloth, 
red edge. Brevier type. Size, 12 
mo. 5 x 734 inches. Price, $.63 
each. 

" No. 12. Italian Bible (Diodati). Cloth, red 
edge. With references and maps. 
Minion type. Size, 16 mo. 434 x 
634 inches. Price, $.28 each. 

" No. 26. Italian and English New Testa- 
ment. Parallel columns. Brevier 
type. Size, 12 mo. 434 x 7 inches. 
Price, $.42 each. 

" No. 28. Italian New Testament and 
Psalms. Pica type. Size, 8vo. 
534x8^4 inches. Price, $.50 each. 

" No. 32. Italian Nezv Testament and 
Psalms. Lone- primer type. Size, 
i2mo. 5x7 inches. Price, $.25 
each. 
No. 45. Italian and English St. Matthew. 
Parallel columns. Brevier type. 
Size, i2mo. 4*4x634 inches. Cloth, 
cut flush, red edge. Price, $.14 
each. 

" Nos. 46-49. Single Gospels 

Cloth, cut flush, flexible, round 
corners, plain edge. Brevier type. 
Size, 234 x 4 3 4 inches. Price, $.03 
each. 

(g~) The Church and Social Justice for 
the Italian. It will be frankly recognized 
that many of the modes of service suggested 
in this pamphlet are after all but efforts to 
alleviate conditions which have no place in 
a Christian social order. They do not go 
to the root of the matter. The Italian im- 
migrant is the marginal worker. He is the 
last man in. His needs are urgent. His 
wages are small. He must frequently at- 
tempt to sustain a family on an annual in- 

33 



come of $600. Here follows a whole chain 
of untoward circumstances. To secure so- 
cial justice for the Italian immigrant and 
his fellow immigrant workers is a field of 
service in which all churches must engage. 

CORRESPONDENCE 

Information concerning any of the 
books referred to in this pamphlet may 
be had by addressing your denomination- 
al home mission headquarters ; or the 
Missionary Education Movement, 156 
Eifth Avenue, New York, will forward 
your request, together with any other 
inquiries you may make, to the proper 
headquarters, if you will mention the 
name of your church or denomination. 

COOPERATING AGENCIES 

The following agencies will furnish lit- 
erature and suggestions bearing on com- 
munity service. In writing, state with all 
possible definiteness the problem you are 
confronting. 

Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in 
America. Constituted by 30 Protestant denomi- 
nations. Rev. Charles S. Macfarland, general 
secretary; 105 E. 226. Street, New York. 
Commission on the Church and Social Service ; 
Rev. Worth M. Tippy, executive secretary. 
Campaign for the Conservation of Human Life; 
and "Strengthen America" Campaign in the in- 
terest of nation-wide prohibition, Charles Stelzle, 
secretary. 



Russell Sage Foundation. For the improvement 
of living conditions. John M. Glenn, director, 
130 E. 226. Street, New York. 
Department of Surveys and Exhibits ; Shelby 
M. Harrison, director; E. G. Routzahn, associate 
director. 

Library; open free to the public; one of the best 
working collections in the United States on so- 
ciology and social work; Frederick Warren 
Jenkins, librarian. 

Playground and Recreation Association of 
America. Howard Braucher, secretary; 1 Madi- 
son Avenue, New York. Playground activities, 
equipment, and administration; community cen- 
ters ; field work in communities ; rural recrea- 
tion; physical efficiency tests for boys and girls. 
Pamphlet A 105, "Athletic Badge Test for Boys" 
(5 cents), and A 121, "Athletic Badge Test for 
Girls" (5 cents), specially recommended. Send 
for list of publications. 

National Kindergarten Association. 250 Madison 
Avenue, New York. Object: To have the 
kindergarten established in every public school. 
Furnishes bulletins, exhibits, lecturers, advice, 
and information. 

National Consumers' League. Mrs. Florence 
Kelley, general secretary; 289 Fourth Avenue, 
New York. 87 branch leagues. 15,000 members. 
War program : To help our industrial army by 
promoting clinics for treatment of new diseases 
(incident to munitions work and to fatigue and 
strain) ; reasonable working hours ; safe and 
sanitary working conditions; decent standards 
of living; safeguards for women taking men's 
places in industry; protection for children. 
Minimum membership, $2. 

National League of Women Workers. Jean 
Hamilton, organization secretary ; 35 E. 30th 
Street, New York. Evening clubs for girls; 
recreation and instruction in self-governing and 
supporting groups for girls over working age. 

35 



National Association for the Study and Preven- 
tion of Tuberculosis. 105 E. 22d Street, New 
York. Organization of tuberculosis campaigns; 
tuberculosis hospitals, clinics, nurses, etc. ; open 
air schools; Red Cross seals, educational 
methods, etc. 

National Child Labor Committee. Owen R. 
Lovejoy, secretary; 105 E. 226. Street, New York. 
35 state branches. Industrial and agricultural in- 
vestigations ; legislation ; enforcement ; educa- 
tion; mothers' pensions; juvenile delinquency; 
health ; recreation. 

National Child Welfare Exhibit Association, Inc. 
70 Fifth Avenue, New York. Educational health 
posters covering care of babies and children. 
Second edition of Parcel Post Exhibit. Photo- 
gravure reproductions in color with simple, eas- 
ily understood legends, attractively illustrated 
from original paintings; 25 posters (i8"x28") 
in set. Further information regarding these and 
other exhibits on request. Illustrated booklets 
on Baby and Child Care. Lantern slides. 
National Organization for Public Health Nurs- 
ing. Ella Phillips Crandall, R.N., executive 
secretary; 600 Lexington Avenue, New York. 
Object: To stimulate the extension of public 
health nursing. 

Travelers' Aid Society. Orin C. Baker, general 
secretary; 465 Lexington Avenue, New York. 
Provides advice, guidance and protection to 
travelers, especially women and girls. 
Neighbors' League of America, Airs. Edward H. 
Scott, registrar; room 1017, 23 E. 26th Street, 
New York. Civics and English for foreigners. 
Girl Scouts, Inc. Dr. Abby Porter Leland, ex- 
ecutive secretary; ^27 Fifth Avenue, New York. 
Camp Fire Girls, Inc. Dr. Luther H. Gulick, 
president; 461 Fourth Avenue, New York. 
Bov Scouts of America. James E. West, Chief 
Executive of the National Council of Boy Scouts 
of America; 200 Fifth Avenue, New York. 

36 



Italian Immigration 

North and South Italians 
Six years to dune 30th. 1915 



South Italians tow, 900 



North Italians 135, soa 




37 






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